


Until We Get There

by whatamidoingeven



Category: Persona 4
Genre: College AU, F/F, Other major characters and ships will be tagged as they appear, a lot of alcohol is drunk, almost every minor p4 character also appears, basically the entire p3 cast appears at one point or another
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-24
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-04-05 22:23:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4197195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whatamidoingeven/pseuds/whatamidoingeven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"The experience of a life time!" </p><p>Two years into her college experience, Chie had serious doubts about her University's tagline. She hoped her third year would be different.</p><p>She couldn't have imagined what the future had planned for her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. slow bass, low tones; the sounds of beginning

It didn’t take long for Chie to decide that Souji Seta was weird. Of course, there wasn’t much Chie could do about it- he had signed onto her lease with little hesitation, and, well, it wasn’t like she could complain when she and her other roommates needed the extra rent money coming in. And he seemed nice enough, or at least like he wasn’t going to start a criminal empire in the basement of their apartment complex, so he wasn’t the worst choice for a roommate.

 Still, that didn’t keep Chie from seeing Souji as more than just a little odd. After he finished moving his stuff into his room (which included, Chie noted, a full fishing set with accessories, no less than 200 origami cranes, and the entirety of the _Witch Doctor_ series), he quickly became comfortable with the apartment and his roommates.

Comfortable enough that when Chie went downstairs for breakfast the morning after he moved in, she was greeted by the sight of him making breakfast in nothing but his boxers.

“Good morning” Souji smiled, not noticing (or choosing not to react to) Chie’s surprise at his appearance.

“U-um. Hi.”

Chie didn’t even bother grabbing anything to eat before she sat down at the small table in the middle of the kitchen and tried to process what was happening.

A plate of food found itself in front of her face- freshly cooked eggs and bacon and Chie wasn’t even sure they had these things in the apartment.

Souji, in a spurt of self-consciousness, sputtered “O-Oh, sorry. I didn’t realize…do you even like eggs? Or bacon?”

Chie noted that Souji’s boxers had paw prints on them, before she answered “I- I do. Sorry, I’m just a little…distracted this morning, I guess.”

It was the gentlest way of putting it, she decided before taking a bite from the plate in front of her. It was surprisingly delicious.

“That’s understandable. Classes are coming up, aren’t they?”

Chie frowned “Unfortunately.”

Souji made a noncommittal noise before turning his back to her and opening the fridge. Chie ate more- she would have to ask Souji how he was able to make something this good, and if he could teach her. Or if he could just cook meals for her all the time, because it wasn’t like any of her other roommates could cook at all, and take out was getting expensive.

After a few moments of shuffling things around in the fridge, Souji joined her at the table with a plate of breakfast and a container Chie didn’t recognize.

“Souji-kun, this is delicious! And…what are you eating??”

“Grass”

“I-is that safe?”

“I mean, I washed it.”

“No, I mean…doesn’t that have like pesticides on it? And…” Several things ran through Chie’s mind- things like dirt, dog business, and horrifying bugs. “…other things humans shouldn’t be eating?”  

Souji shrugged, “It’s got a lot of fiber.”

Chie concentrated on her plate, because it was a lot easier to eat bacon than it was to try and understand Souji’s questionable habits.

They sat quietly, enjoying their breakfasts until Souji asked “So, why are you awake so early?”

“I have to meet with my academic adviser at 9,” she groaned, “it’s time to talk about the ‘future’, or something.” Souji nodded.

“Wait, why are you-” Chie started to ask, but was distracted by the time on the cracked clock on the wall, “-oh no! I’m gonna be late!”

Calmly, Souji turned around, “It’s only 8, though.”

“I was supposed to get on the 7:45 train…” Chie slumped over the table, because it wasn’t enough to receive a rude email and get chewed out about how irresponsible she was being with her academics, or the fact that the advisers set her appointment up for her because they didn’t trust her to do it herself, no, she had to prove them right by being late.

She sighed, loudly, and contemplated just not going at all when she heard a jingle. She looked up and saw Souji dangling a set of keys and a cat keychain in front of her. “You can take my scooter. I don’t need to go anywhere today.”

“You-you have a moped?”

“Sure do. It was a gift from my uncle.”

“Wow,” Chie said, reaching over the table and grabbing the keys from him, “That’s like, the nicest thing anyone’s done for me all year.”

Souji smiled, “I only ask that you don’t crash it. But I trust you.”

Revitalized, Chie nodded enthusiastically, “You can count on me! I’ll bring this baby back in tip-top shape!” Springing out of her chair, Chie ran to the door before stopping herself, “Oh! And thank you! So much!”

“No problem! Good luck!” Souji answered before taking a hand full of grass from the container. Chie left before having to see him eat any more of it.

As she ran out of the apartment, and hopped over a pair of sleeping cats on the steps outside the entrance way, she decided that Souji was very weird.

Very weird, and someone she would be very lucky to live with for the next year.

* * *

 

The posters Chie’s adviser had on her walls were a little unsettling. 

Of course, they all had blaring headlines of _The Right Career is Waiting for You!_ And _College is the first step towards success._ Chie thought they could have used prettier colors and maybe some cute animals, or anything more friendly that didn’t reflect the immense pressure and existential dread the future imposed. 

Then again, she had spent the last 40 minutes staring at them while her adviser droned on, her monotone voice blending well with the buzz of the lighting system. Or maybe it was the ventilation. Chie couldn’t quite place it.  

“…and your grades in your core classes are pathetic. Satonaka, are you even listening?”

Chie swore she recognized one of the figures on her advisers desk before she snapped out of her scrutinizing and nodded, “O-of course, Toriumi-san.”

Toriumi sighed, resting her elbows on the desk in front of her, “Satonaka-san, you need to take this seriously. You’ve been at this school for two years now, and you haven’t even decided on a major.

Chie groaned, and sunk further into her chair, “Do I really _need_ a major-“

“Absolutely, if you ever plan on graduating.” Toriumi cut her off, “And the school has a credit limit, so even if you want to stay undeclared and living the college life forever, you can’t.”

Chie didn’t say anything in return, and settled for looking at her hands. It was better than seeing Toriumi’s disappointment, anyway.

The ticking of a clock filled the silence between them. Even the buzzing had faded.

Another sigh, followed by the shuffling of papers, “Deciding on this isn’t the end of your life, Satonaka-san. You don’t need to agonize over it this much. But you do need to graduate.”

At the sound of a pen scratching against paper, Chie looked up, just in time for Toriumi to hand her a set of papers. “…Assuming you maintain good enough grades to graduate, anyway.”

Chie rolled her eyes, and looked at the papers. A notarized letter with Toriumi’s signature, and a packet titled _Career Options for the New Generation._

“You don’t have to decide on this today. You have until the end of the semester. But just know that the longer you sit on this, the longer you’ll have to stay here.”

“What’s the note for?”

“Permission. The cut-off for declaring was the end of last semester.”  

Chie nodded. Some of her classmates had mentioned something about it a while back, but Chie had been too focused on cramming for finals at the time to take note of it.

“The university won’t hound you for it, not with my endorsement. But keep the letter, just in case.”

Chie folded it, and slipped it into her wallet, “Anything else we need to cover, Toriumi-san?”

“We’ve already gone over the time we allotted for this meeting, so no.” Toriumi answered as she shook her head and turned to her computer, typing furiously.

As Chie gathered her things and made to leave, the typing stopped, and Toriumi added, “Well, there was one other thing.”

Chie paused and looked at her.  

“I mentioned this at the beginning of the meeting, but I’m guessing you may not have caught it...” Toriumi said, a little under her breath, before continuing. “…I added you to a class, since you needed more credits on your schedule to be considered a full-time student.”

Chie groaned, louder than she intended to, and she could sense Toriumi’s frown before she saw it.

“Please, Satonaka, spare the melodramatics. It fulfills one of your liberal arts requirements. And it should be…interesting.”

Chie nodded. “Thank you for looking out for me. I know it can be difficult…” Toriumi hummed in agreement. “...but I appreciate it!”

“Of course, Satonaka-san. I do want you to succeed. Even if I sometimes worry about whether or not you share the same vision.”

Chie suddenly found her feet very interesting. She knew, on a base level, that Toriumi was right. But that didn’t mean she had to admit it, did she?

“At any rate, your appointment was supposed to end half an hour ago, and I’ve got another appointment now, Satonaka-san. Take care of yourself”

Chie thanked her one last time before she rushed out of the door. She noticed a girl in red sitting patiently on one of the chairs lined up outside the office.

Chie had thought to apologize to her for the wait, but instead focused on getting back to Souji’s moped, getting back to their apartment, and getting away from the weight of the decision in front of her.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am trying my best to write this as accurate to the Japanese college experience; however, my experience is with the american college system. So if you ever spot some inaccuracies, let me know! Otherwise, thank you for reading and hope you enjoy this fic! It should an experience.


	2. static, more or less

This was a bad idea.

Of course, it wasn’t like Chie had a choice in the matter, and she knew she had to be here, but…

When the first thing you see in the first class of the new school year is professor Morooka, it’s not exactly a promising sign for the semester to come.

The room was packed, though, so it wasn’t like she was the only one in this less than ideal position.

It didn’t take her long to find a boy in a blue baseball cap she recognized from other classes and occasional workout sessions seated in the back of the room, and it took her even less time to sit by him.

“Hey, it’s Chie-chan! Man, how lucky can a guy get, huh? Yuka-tan and Chie-chan in one class? And both of them sitting by me? Nice!” Junpei Iori leaned back in his chair, grinning and folding his hands behind his head as if he were mentally giving himself a high-five. A girl in pink next to him groaned.

“Yeah, well, at least we won’t be alone in having to deal with Morooka.”

“Is he really that bad? I mean, I heard rumors, but…” Yukari Takeba, someone Chie had known from a previous class and who knew Junpei well, chimed in.

“He’s the worst. Just you wait.”

“Oh, come on, Chie-chan. How could any class be bad when you got good ‘ol Junpei in it?”

Chie opened her mouth the respond before a loud banging drew her and everyone else’s attention to the front of the room where Morooka stood with the textbook he had slammed onto his desk.

“Alright, you ingrates, shut your damn mouths! If you’re gonna talk, you’re gonna do it outside of this class. No one forced you to be here, but since you are here, you damn well better listen up!”

A boy sitting in front of Chie whispered to a classmate next to him, “What class is this even?”

“Professor Moron 101.” The other boy responded, and both of them giggled.

A loud slam shut them up quickly.

“Shut your traps! Damn kids these days. Back when I was in school that kind of behavior led to expulsion, but now you’re all fooling around on your cell phones and checking your latergrams and your spacebooks…”

As Morooka droned on, Chie found her eyes drooping, and once they got to actually talking about ancient literature, she was a goner.

* * *

 

Everything was blue, which was weird, because blue was so not her color, though this shade of it felt oddly familiar. And the rest of the setting was pretty weird, too, because they were on a boat of some kind going who knew where. Chie was faced by some stranger with a crooked nose and his actually quite attractive….daughter? Wife? Secretary? She wasn’t sure on that one.  But before she could say anything, even a ‘hello’ or ‘where the hell am I’, she was being lectured.

It was hard to hear, because it was somehow really loud in this place, despite it just being the three of them. It wasn’t until the scraggly man stopped speaking and the woman started that Chie actually heard anything clearly. Not that it mattered- the woman wasn’t making any sense.

“There’s risk in everything. Sometimes, the hardest path is the easiest to choose.  But you have no way of knowing if you don’t approach it with a whole heart.”

“Um,” Chie tried to formulate a response, “thanks?”

“Good luck” The woman added, and smiled as the world started to shake and crumble around them.

* * *

 

“Chie-chan! Chie-chan!’

Chie awoke to the bright lights of the classroom, her classmates filing out through the aisles while chatting about whatever, and Junpei violently shaking her.

“Ugh, what the hell?” She groaned, and ran a hand through her hair.

“You seriously slept through that whole class? I mean, it was totally boring, but it’s the first day!” Yukari’s voice woke her up, and as Chie turned to respond to her, she swore she saw the man from her dream pass her by.

Yukari continued to talk about something else, while Chie scanned the room to find him. But everyone there was too young and too normal and she knew that she had lost him, if he had actually been there at all.

“And really, it’s- Are you even listening to me?” Chie snapped out of her search to find Yukari staring at her.

“Um.” In the background, Junpei began whistling nonchalantly.

Yukari threw up her hands, “Ugh! Why do I even bother! I’m going to my next class!”

“S-sorry!” Chie tried to yell after her as Yukari stomped out of the classroom.

“Ah, man, don’t even worry about it. Yuka-tan’s just been on edge recently.” Junpei said as he patted Chie on the back comfortingly.

“Why?”

He shrugged, “Some kind of family drama between her and this rich girl she’s been seeing. Oh, and I’ve got this for ya!”

Junpei handed her a paper with the word SYLLABUS in bold, all-capital letters on the top. “Oh, thanks.”

“Don’t mention it! And you’re in luck-Morooka talks pretty big, but he sure doesn’t want to do all the work that goes with it.”

Chie looked at the paper. Sure enough, after a few paragraphs talking about how tardiness and absences would lead to moral decay, there was a breakdown of graded assignments.

Chie pumped her fist, “Yes! No mandatory attendance or homework! Looks like I won’t be seeing Morooka for a few weeks.”

“Yeah, must be nice.” Junpei replied as he hung his head. “Damn baseball team and it’s damn mandatory attendance policy…”

Chie patted his back in solidarity. “Junpei-kun, I am so sorry for your loss…”

He nodded a little, appreciating the attempt and coming to grips with his unfortunate fate.

“…But now you can take notes for me!”

Junpei groaned. “Yeah, well, we’ll see about that. “

Chie hummed as she shoved the syllabus into her backpack before flinging it on, “Welp, Junpei-kun, I’ll see you a week before the midterm!”

She barely heard Junpei’s sorrowful moaning and mumbled farewells as she practically skipped out of the classroom.

* * *

 

When Chie opened the door to her apartment building, the first thing she heard was rustling. With no signs of life present, this was more than alarming.

Stopping in the doorway, she tried to assess the situation. No one had greeted her, and no one should be home on this early on the first day of classes. Not when they lived 45 minutes off campus.

She said, weakly, to whoever may be listening. “H-hello?”

More rustling, but no response.

“I-if this is a joke, it isn’t funny!”

Again, there were no words, but instead a loud clanging which caused Chie to jump and scream louder than the noise itself had been.

She was halfway outside again when she heard footsteps coming down the staircase in front of the door.

“Whoa, Chie, what’s going on!”

Yosuke Hanamura, one of her roommates for the past two years, barely ducked in time to dodge a shoe thrown directly at his head. “What the hell!”

“You think it’s funny trying to scare me?!”

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about! I didn’t even hear you come in!”

“Yeah, sure! Then what was knocking stuff down and making a bunch of weird noises!”

“What the hell are you-“As if on cue, another loud bang boomed through the lower level of the building, followed by a noise that could best be described as a dull roar.

Chie jumped “What was that!”

“It-it’s the wind, right? P-probably just the wind.”

“Oh god, I think something’s moving in the hallway!”

“No, no it’s nothing, it’s nothing” Yosuke murmured while looking anywhere but the hallway. Chie stared him down until he finally looked at her.

“Wha-what do you…Oh, hell no, I’m not gonna go find out what that is! You saw it first, so you should fight it!”

“No way!”

“Yes way!”

The pair continued to argue back and forth until, miraculously, the hallway light turned on.

“Murble.”

Both Yosuke and Chie stopped their bickering and looked up. What they found was an orange tabby cat rubbing up against a very confused looking Souji. In the commotion, no one had noticed another pair of footsteps come down the stairs.

“…Oh.”

“O-our bad, Partner.”

Souji nodded. “Sorry, I should have told you about the cats.”

“Cats? Is this your pet?” Chie asked.

Souji shrugged. “More or less.”

Yosuke laughed, and rubbed the back of his head bashfully “Heh, yeah, sorry about all that. Chie’s a big scaredy cat, so-“

Chie ended that sentence with a swift kick to the shin, leaving Yosuke hopping around on one leg before she turned back to Souji. “Y-yeah, sorry about that, you probably think we’re really weird.”

Souji just smiled and said, “I’ve seen weirder.”

Chie really didn’t want to know, so instead of responding to him, she turned back to Yosuke.

“Well now, since you’ve so rudely insulted me, I think I deserve some steak.”

“Oh, no way! You’re the one who kicked me!”

“You owe me from before anyway!”

“Ugh, fine. You’re lucky I’m done with class already.” Yosuke turned to Souji. “What do you say? You want some of the finest steak in the city? On the house, of course.”

Souji shook his head, “Sorry, I’ve got a shift at the hospital in an hour.”

“You work at the hospital? But when you filled out the lease forms, you said you did translation work.” Chie said.

Souji shrugged, “I work a lot.”

“Fair enough, Partner. We’ll get some food together some other time.” Yosuke said, with a wink.

Chie smiled, and swore she saw appreciation in Souji’s features.

* * *

 

“You’re calling him partner already?”

“Sh-shut up.”

Yosuke looked down at the restaurant’s table between them, but he couldn’t hide his blush. “I don’t like him like that.”

Chie rolled her eyes. “Sure.”

“Ugh, why did he have to work, I would have much preferred his company over yours.”

“If we weren’t in public, I’d kick you. “

“Oh, you don’t kick people in public now. You’ve matured so much since we started college.”

Chie groaned. “You are actually the worst. Besides, it’s not like you had a choice. You were going to have to buy me steak one way or another.”

“Yeah, well…Are you ever going to get over that DVD thing-“

“Absolutely not. That was a collector’s edition and you know it, and buying me steak for eternity is a better option than-“

“Selling my soul to replace it, yeah yeah yeah, I get the picture.”

Yosuke sighed and shifted back in his seat. Chie, subconsciously, did the same as she looked around the dingy restaurant they were seated in. Aiya’s was a place she’d been to way too often in the last two years, and was notable for a couple of reasons: it was a five minute walk away from their apartment building, had extremely cheap steak, and any time Yosuke did something to piss her off or hurt her, they inevitably settled things here. In a way, these greasy walls housed more of Chie’s memories than any other place in the city, sans her apartment, maybe.

Yosuke was the one to break the silence between them. “So, how was Professor Moron’s class this morning?”

Chie shrugged, “Dunno. I couldn’t keep my eyes open for it. But the only things we’re graded on are a midterm and a final, so guess I won’t have to worry about getting onto campus two days out of the week now.”

“Lucky.” Yosuke sighed, “I’ve got class every day. Some of them even have mandatory attendance.”

“You’ll be skipping by next week.”

Yosuke nodded, “Yeah, probably. Business classes are so boring.” He paused, before adding, “It’s not like you to fall asleep in class, though.”

Chie stared out the window, “I had a really weird dream, too. It was like in an alternate dimension and there were random people lecturing me on choices and stuff. Way weird.”

Yosuke hummed, and started to bounce one of his legs up and down. He took his time in responding. “You still hung up on deciding a major?”

“Ugh, don’t remind me. I’ve got till the end of the semester. Like anyone can make up their mind that quickly.”

“You had two years before that, though.” Chie kicked him under the table, but quietly and gently so that no one would even bat an eye. “Ow, I thought you stopped doing that in public!”

“Yeah, well, not everyone has a business to inherit and a future set for them, alright!”

“Chie…” Yosuke took on a tone of concern, one Chie didn’t think fit him well at all.

“Look, I know I’ve got to get my shit together, okay? I know that. Don’t think I’m not trying, I’m just…” She paused, still looking out the window at the people passing by on the street, each with a place to be and things to do, “…it’s hard, alright. It’s hard.”

”I wasn’t trying to say it’s not. Just…don’t worry about it so much, okay?”

Their order number was called before Chie had a chance to respond, and when Yosuke brought the meals back to the table, she chose calories over conversation and tried to ignore the atmosphere that had suddenly gotten thicker between them.

* * *

 


	3. bearing down on me

_Bang._

Chie swatted her arm at the alarm clock next to her bed to no avail- it wasn’t going off.

_Bang._

She groaned, and forced herself to get up. It wasn’t unusual for her to wake up this way- not with the buildings on her block being constantly under construction (though, she lamented, never getting any more refurbished or easier to look at). But both noises were loud enough to be coming from inside the apartment.

It was Saturday, and early- who could possibly be making this much noise?

She dragged herself out of her room, and nearly ran face-first into the girl whose room was next to hers, who looked a bit disheveled. When she saw it was Chie she ran into, she looked at the floor and blushed.

“S-sorry Chie-chan…”

Well, that wasn’t an entirely surprising source of loud noises- Fuuka was frequently messing around with technology and robotics, being a computer science major, and while Chie didn’t mind, she did wish that the girl would be a little more confident in herself. Maybe fewer things would be blown up that way.

“Hey, it’s totally fine- but what was that other noise?”

Fuuka shrugged. “I don’t know. It sounded like someone slamming the door downstairs, but I’ve never heard anyone here slam it like that... Maybe one of the boys had someone over?”

Chie laughed, “Pfft, Yosuke? Inviting someone over for a night? That’s a good one.”

Fuuka smiled at that, “That does seem a little…unlikely. Maybe Souji-kun?”

That was more probable, though Chie had never seen or heard Souji being intimate with anyone at the apartment. Honestly, he was rarely around, and when he was, he seemed pretty taken by his many and increasingly bizarre hobbies.

Chie was going to ask something when another bang resounded through the building, followed by a loud expletive and something about a bear.

* * *

 

It didn’t take long for the two girls to find the source of the commotion in the living room on the first floor. Unfortunately, their discovery raised a few more questions than it answered.

“What is going on here?”

“Oooh, who’s this? Hello there, ladies!”

A boy, a blonde, skinny kid with too much gel in his hair extended his hand. Fuuka instinctively flinched. Chie slid over to protect her.

“Ugh, haven’t you ever heard of making a good first impression? You sound like such a creep.”

The boy turned on his heel and faced Yosuke, looking offended, as though Yosuke’s comment had interrupted what had, up till then, been a masterful approach. “Why, what a beary rude thing to say to me!”

Souji, who was perched in the corner, nodded. “It is a bit rude to talk about first impressions, when the first time I saw you, Yosuke, you were rolling around in trash.”

“H-hey! Partner! Wh-what the hell?!”

In the commotion, the blonde boy managed to slide back over to Chie and Fuuka. He bowed. “It is _so_ nice to meet you. If only you would bearstow upon me the pleasure of your names on this fine morning.”

He was kissing the back of Fuuka’s hand by the time Yosuke grabbed his collar and pulled him away, “Ugh, you stupid bear, can you slow your roll for thirty seconds? You have to live with these girls, remember!”

“Live with?”

“Bear?” The girls responded in unison.

From the chair in the corner, Souji laughed.

* * *

 

“You probably should have talked this over with us first.”

“Chie-chan’s right. This really is something that should have been discussed.”

They had settled down, if, by settled, one meant the blonde had stopped trying to hit on the girls, and Yosuke had stopped being so violent. Each of them had taken a place around the living room.

Yosuke, Souji, and the boy sat on a raggedy couch across from the Chie and Fuuka, who had each taken a chair. Between them was a broken coffee table. 

“W-well, he was going to get kicked out of his last place! What was I supposed to do, leave him for dead?”

 “What was he being kicked out for?” Fuuka asked.

“Wha- is that really important?!”

Souji nodded, “It is.”

Yosuke turned to him so fast his neck might snap, “Hey- you’re supposed to be on my side!”

“I really don’t have a side. I’m more of a mediator or a referee.”  

Yosuke groaned, “Look, the point is that he needs a place to stay. We know each other from classes, I ran into him and he told me he was getting kicked out of his place with the semester just starting, and I wasn’t just going to just leave him high and dry.”

The blonde slinked off the couch, sat on his knees, clasped his hands together, and stared at the girls. “Please, oh please, beautiful goddesses, take mercy on me, or I’ll bearly make it out of this University alive.”

“That…a little overdramatic.” Chie said.

“I would have to agree.” Fuuka echoed.

Not to be deterred, the boy threw himself theatrically on the three-legged coffee table in front of him “Pllll-easeeeee?”

Fuuka laughed. Chie just rolled her eyes. “Ugh, fine. But we don’t even know your name.”

The boy seemed to light up, and beamed at them with a wide smile. “It’s Teddie- I’m Teddie!”

In a second, Teddie was off of the coffee table and over it, and wrapped both girls in a tight hug. “Oh, thank you, thank you! I’m so excited I almost can’t bear it!”

After her initial shock wore off, Chie gently patted him on the back, and wondered what they had gotten themselves into.

* * *

 

Chie learned through idle chit chat, while begrudgingly helping Teddie move his extraneous amount of belongings into the apartment, that Teddie was a drama major (“That way, I can be the prettiest princess AND the most manly stud!”), and the reason he had such an impressive pun repertoire was because he was the school’s bear mascot (“A beary great honor!” he explained, carrying the silly looking suit up the steps).

He seemed nice enough, a bit flirty, but it wasn’t like Chie was going to complain that she owed less in rent per month, now.

It ended up taking up the entire day to move Teddie in and get him settled, much to Chie’s dismay, so the night was brought on with her and Yosuke sitting around the living room. Teddie had worn himself out in his excitement, Fuuka had some project she had to get back to work on, and Souji…well, no one knew where he spent his Saturday nights.

Well, it could be worse. At least Yosuke had bought beer. Shitty, lukewarm beer, but beer nonetheless.

“Yeesh, I thought we’d never get all that stuff in here.”

“Yeah, seriously. Who knew one person could have so much junk? And what do they use half of it for, anyway?”

Yosuke just shrugged, and took a sip from his beer. “Maybe we’re better off not knowing what Teddie does with all of that.”

“Hm” Chie nodded in agreement, and followed suit with a swig. She still didn’t know Teddie at all, but he seemed like an…open person. To say the least.

Before coming to the University, Chie wouldn’t have predicted her Saturday night’s to end up this way, but this was more often than not how they turned out: her and Yosuke in this little room, with a barely functional TV and a coffee table missing a leg. Not to mention all of the holes in the couch- it was a miracle they didn’t have rat colonies living in it. Or maybe they did. Chie didn’t know, and didn’t want to find out.

Yosuke was staring at a hole in their wall, introspective. “Didn’t think I’d see the day, but we’re coming close to having a full house.”

“Technically, this is an apartment complex.”

“Oh whatever. Close enough. Home is where the heart is, right?”

“If this is a confession, I want nothing to do with it.”

Yosuke scoffed, “As if. We’ve been friends for like, years, and you’ve already almost killed me twice. I probably wouldn’t be alive if we dated.”

“Okay, first of all, I only ever almost killed you _once_ and that was practically your own fault! And another thing, I’ll have you know I’m a great-“

“Yeah yeah yeah, a great girlfriend, I know the spiel.”

Chie huffed indignantly. “Well, I guess you wouldn’t know what one looks like. Since you’ve never had one.”

“Hey! You’re one to talk!”

Chie shrunk back into her seat. “This is you were talking about- don’t bring _my_ love life into this!”

“Yeah, well, you started it.” Yosuke muttered as he finished his beer.

Chie stared at the bottom of her bottle. Technically, she’d had relationships- well, kind of. In a sense- it depended on the definition of relationship.

There had been a nervous first kiss with a boy in high school, which was then followed with an equally nervous conversation where they both decided they were better off just as friends. There were occasional sloppy, impulsive kisses at parties, but those weren’t really relationships.

Now that she thought of it, the closest she’d ever gotten to dating someone was with a redhead on the University’s hockey team. It had been a casual fling, a couple of make out sessions here and there, but it ended when Chie realized that maybe that wasn’t her style. Minako had been charismatic, and charming, and when they broke it off, she took it in good faith. Maybe because the entire campus wanted to date her. Chie couldn’t blame them, though- she had wanted to, too.

She was zoning out, so it took her a while to realize Yosuke was staring at her.

“What? Wha-what’re you lookin’ at?!”

Yosuke squinted, focusing on her. “You’re thinking too much. Let’s go to the bar.”

* * *

 

Time flowed like that- days spent in and out of the apartment, rarely at classes (because, really, what was the point? Why waste time, Chie had asked herself more than once).

Luckily, she wasn’t the only one who regularly skipped classes- Souji had a very particular schedule, and some days he would be home the entire day and the next, no one would see hide nor hair of him. Yosuke had a habit of skipping, too, and the two of them reconciled in the fact that they would probably just sleep through lecture anyway, so no sense wasting time on the trains to get to campus. Teddie was always at one event or another, but almost never at classes.  

Before she knew it, it was May, and Chie found herself with even less time to decide on a major and nothing else to blame.

“It really depends on what you’re passionate about.” Souji said as she kicked the punching bag.

Chie had caught him on one of his rare days off, on a Sunday and, having no one else to turn to, (she had already exhausted Yosuke on this topic, Fuuka was always busy and Teddie was…well. He was excited and happy all the time and absolutely the wrong person to ask for life advice.) asked him to accompany her to the University's rec center. She didn't tell him he was getting roped into a talk about life and the future, but it was easier to get him to go with her without that explanation. 

When she asked him, Souji was enthusiastic about it- another one of the reasons she chose to talk with him about it rather than Yosuke. About the only time Yosuke ever agreed to exercise was if there was an idol he liked coming to town. Or if he had enough energy to look cool in front of Souji.

“Well, I know that, but like-” _Thwack,_ another kick. “-how do I even find that? How do I know…you know?”

“You’re great at kicking things. Maybe look into Kung Fu?” Chie responded with a very loud _thwack_ that made Souji jump, a little.

“Very funny. Do you think they have a course for that here?” She was getting frustrated and, in turn, she was worked herself harder.

“Well, I can’t-“ Souji appeared to be struggling with the words as Chie turned to look at him. “I can’t tell you what to do. I know you’re a strong person, inside and out. But ultimately, you’re the only one who can know who you truly are.”

Chie sighed. “I didn’t realize teaching philosophy was one of your side jobs.”

Souji chuckled, but gave her a look that told her he was trying. “I know it doesn’t help at all, but it’s something that operates on a schedule you set- it comes down to actually looking inside yourself and being completely honest with who you are and how you feel. And it’ll come to you, in time.”

Chie groaned, and moved to sit at the bench on the wall of the weight room. “That’s the problem, though- I don’t have that much time left to decide.”

Souji smiled, and opted to stand beside her. “That’s what it feels like. But life works in funny ways. You’ll know when you need to.”

It had been more than month since they met, and Chie still couldn’t get a read on Souji. He had the charisma of a teenager, but the wisdom of an old man, like he had seen and been through more things in his life than she would know.

And who knew? Maybe he had.

“Yeah, I hope so.” She hung her head in her hands. Souji gave her a couple of comforting pats on the back.

“Yo!” Rounding the corner to a stop in front of them was a pair of boys.

“Chie-chan! Souji! What’s up?” The muscular boy with a nasal strip asked. The leaner, dark haired boy next to him nodded towards them.

Chie stood, and she tried to straighten herself, as though that would cover up any existential dread she was experiencing. “Oh, hey Daisuke-kun, Kou-kun. Have you met Sou- wait, you guys already know each other?”

Daisuke grinned. “Duh, we’re already buds!’

“I needed some people to help put together a practice squad, and Daisuke needed some help with his soccer shit. Souji came to our rescue.” Kou explained.

“…Huh.” Chie was stumped.  Souji was a new transfer student, he had been at the University for little more than a month, and he already knew two captains of the sports teams? And they were already on first name basis?

“Anyways, where have you been? I haven’t seen you in class at all this term.”

“You probably haven't seen her because you’re always sleeping.”

“Shut up, Kou!”

Chie stared at her feet, “O-oh yeah, about that, I um…haha, I-”

Daisuke threw up his hands “Hey man, I’m not judging! But shouldn’t you at least come to class like, once? Especially with midterms coming up… ”

Chie’s stomach dropped. Right. Midterms. Those things. Those tests that made up a huge chunk of her grade. Yes, those. For those classes she had surely been studying for. Obviously. One week away. No problem. Definitely not a problem.

Souji patted her on the shoulder. “She’ll be there this week, no worries!”

“Ha, I’ll believe it when I see it!” Daisuke laughed. Chie punched his arm, which only made him laugh harder.

“Well, we gotta get off to practices- we’ll see you around!” Kou said, as the two boys took off.  

As soon as they were out of sight, Chie slumped back down on the bench. Souji serenaded her with supportive words, but it was no use.

She was doomed. She was so, so doomed. 

* * *

 


	4. the remedy is often worse

Monday morning, it was banging on her door that woke Chie up, not her alarm or any other ruckus.

“Ugh, what?”

“Get up. You’re going to class.” Souji’s cool voice filled a temporary pause. Then he went back to knocking, loudly.

She groaned and rolled over, “I don’t wanna…”

“I’m coming in.” The door clicked, and Chie heard footsteps and the pitter-patter of paws enter the room.

“Chie-chan.”

She rolled over and cracked her eyes open. Sure enough, there stood a silver bowlcut by her bedside.“Oh, why should I have to, it’s not like-“

“You want to know why you haven’t decided on a major yet? Because you keep falling into traps like these. If you keep avoiding things, they’re just going to pile up until they bury you.”

The cat that had come in jumped onto her bed and started kneading at her thighs.

She groaned, “It’s 6 am, Souji-kun.”

“Don’t want you to be late to the train. And I don’t want you to go without breakfast.”

She buried her head into the pillow one last time “…fine. But you better make something good.”

She could practically hear Souji’s smile. The cat meowed.

* * *

 

“Whoa whoa whoa, look who it is! If it isn't the rarest of them all, Chie-chan! We were about to start investigating your disappearance, ya know!” Junpei winked as Chie took her seat, a little relieved no one had taken it while she skipped.

“Oh please, like you even knew she was gone.” Yukari rolled her eyes.

Junpei clutched his chest with dramatic flare, “Oh, that hurts, Yuka-tan! I would never forget someone as beautiful as Chie-chan, and-“

“Don’t you have a girlfriend now anyway?”

“Whaaa, you have a girlfriend, Junpei-kun?!”

“Erhm, well, that’s. It’s…complicated, alright?”

Yukari shrugged, “Well, whatever you say. Seems like you spend an awful lot of time with that girl to be doing anything other than dating.”

Chie leaned back in her seat. “Junpei dating? I must’ve been out of class for years.”

“Oh, you wound me, Chie-chan!” Junpei threw up his hands, and Yukari laughed.

“Will you babbling idiots shut up and stop kicking up such a fuss! Useless little…”

They settled down as Morooka launched into one of his rants. It was like Chie hadn’t missed anything.

* * *

 

By the end of the class, it became very apparent what Chie _had_ missed- everything, more or less. She couldn’t even tell what _year_ they were studying right now. It was bad. Very, very bad.

Until something clicked.

“Wait! Junpei-kun! Can I see your notes?”

Junpei, who was just waking up, drowsily replied. “H-huh? Oh…notes…right…let me check here.”

He opened his notebook, and the only thing in it were hearts with the name CHIDORI scribbled inside. He promptly slammed his notebook shut.

“….you didn’t take notes, did you?”

“I… I did not do that, no.”

“Then why’d you even bother coming to class every day?!”

“Um, baseball? Required attendance to stay with the team? Any of this ringing a bell?”

“Ugh, you two are hopeless.” Yukari packed up her things, and Chie felt her future slipping with each book that went into Yukari’s bag.

“Wait! Wait! Yukari-chan! You’re a smart person- you had to have taken notes, right?!”

Yukari stopped putting things away and stared at the floor. “Well, I, uh….”

Chie felt her stomach drop.

“What she means to say is, ‘sorry Chie-chan, but I wasn’t in class half the time because I was too busy making out with my girlfriend.”

“That is _not_ it, ugh, Stupei, you’re the worst!”

“Ah ha, good joke," Chie giggled nervously, "So you totally have notes then, right?”

Yukari blushed. “I was just planning on copying Mitsuru-senpei’s notes from a couple semesters ago. I guess Mooroka doesn’t change things too much.”

Chie lit up. Sure, she didn’t know this Mitsuru person, but if Yukari did, those notes were as good as hers-

“B-but she won’t let me copy them unless she’s around, and she sure won’t let me give them to someone else. A-anyways, I have to go now! Good luck, Chie-chan.”

As Yukari hustled out of the room, Chie slid down her chair so far she would have ended up on the ground if she hadn't stopped herself.

“Hey man, if you’re that worried, why don’t you just ask one of the smart kids in the front row for a copy of their notes? Like, I see that girl in the red up there just about every day. You could totally buy some copies off her!”

Chie begrudgingly lifted her head to see said girl gathering her things at the front of the room.

“Huh.” And it was about all Chie could say. The girl was gorgeous, and Chie wasn’t entirely sure how she had missed her.  

She also was not entirely sure how she was going to approach this beautiful stranger. ‘Hey, I suck at classes, but it looks like you don’t, so here’s some money, please help me?’ No, she’d have to plan this much more strategically.

“Uh, Chie-chan? She’s leaving.”

Oh. So she was.

There was a little over a week to the midterm- there were no other options. Chie remembered, in a rush of clarity, something she had told herself so frequently before- _don’t think, feel._  And it hadn't resulted in anything too horrible thusfar, so why not just go with her gut? She nodded firmly, and took off towards the girl.

“Good luck!” Junpei waved her goodbye. Chie didn’t turn around. She didn’t have the time.

* * *

 

“Hey!”

Chie had just barely managed to catch the girl in red outside of the lecture hall’s doors, and prayed that she didn’t have anywhere else to be. She touched her shoulder, and the girl immediately jerked away from her.

“O-oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-“

“Can I help you with something?”

Chie shook herself out of her trance- she could do this! She laughed, nervously, and scratched the back of her head. “Um, yeah, actually, I uh. Noticed that you’re really smart in this class.”  

Great. She’d started the race and already tripped over the first hurdle. Probably took out half the field with her, too.

“…thanks?”

“N-n-no. I mean, uh, no to the situation, not no, you aren’t smart, I mean, I'm sure you ARE smart, I just, I mean-”

“Are you feeling okay?”

“I’m, uh…”

Crap. Crap. No, she wasn’t okay. No, she _had_ to be okay. She had to do this.

“If we’re done here, I need to get-“

“Oh, s-sorry! I don’t mean to hog your time, honestly, I just-“ Chie took a deep breath and scrambled for whatever composure she could get. “- I was wondering if I could buy your notes off of you? Well, copies of them, anyway.”

The girl stared at her. She really was very pretty, Chie thought, though obvious confusion was probably not her most attractive look.

“I’m not following.”

“Uh, well, usually the way these things work are, I give you money, and you photocopy your notes and give them…to..me?”

Chie trailed off. She couldn’t read this girl- was she really confused? Or was she about to launch into a speech on how her ethical standards were too high for this, and how dare Chie even approach her with the request? 

“Oh.”

“I-is that a ‘yes’ oh or a ‘no’ oh?”

“It was just an oh.”

“Oh.”

Things went silent between them. God, why couldn’t Junpei have just taken notes? They may have sucked, but they’d be better than this. It couldn’t get worse than this-

“I-I don’t…do that. Sorry.”

It got worse. Chie wished, vaguely, for a black hole or a mysterious portal to grab her and drag her into the ground so that she didn’t have to deal with this conversation or face this girl again for the rest of her natural born life.

“Oh! That’s-okay. That’s fine! Sorry for bugging you! Haha, I have to go, actually. I have to go stand over here and-“

Chie made to take off, but she felt the girl’s hand grab her shoulder.

Chie turned around. The girl looked a little softer than before. Her eyes reflected some understanding, but mostly just concern.

“I won’t sell you my notes, but I could…tutor you? If you're interested? There really isn’t that much material that’ll be on the midterm, and…”

“S-seriously? You would do that?”

The girl nodded. “I might not be the best teacher, though…”

Chie almost shook with happiness. “Who cares! Anything is better than nothing, right?!”

“Y- yes, I suppose. Um, just one thing, though…”

Chie braced herself. Who knew what was going to be on the end of this sentence. Maybe this girl was a murderer. Or a drug smuggler. Or a ghost. Or maybe she needed to stop watching horror movies with Teddie and Yosuke.

“…who are you?”

Chie snapped herself out of her trance. “Oh, right! I totally forgot! I’m Chie Satonaka!” She extended her hand.

The girl looked at it before moving her own, “Yukiko Amagi.”

Yukiko’s handshake was weak. That wouldn’t do at all.

Once their hands separated, Chie pulled her into a tight hug. “Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you!”

She felt Yukiko tense, and then, slowly, reciprocate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> apologizes on the inconsistent update schedule! Life is hectic. But I do plan on seeing this through to the end. There's a lot of story left to tell.


	5. push your luck

It shouldn’t have surprised Chie that Yukiko wasn’t an academic slouch in the least. In fact, just moments after breaking up their uncomfortably long hug (Chie really hadn’t intended to do that.), Yukiko gave Chie her number and a time to meet at her apartment that night. It made sense, considering the limited time they were working with, but it was still…jarring to be invited to an apartment right after meeting someone. 

“Damn, you’re already going to her apartment? That was fast.” 

Chie threw a book at Yosuke’s head, which he dodged without getting out of the living room chair.

She cursed his trained reactions. “Ugh, it’s so not like that.” 

“Sure it’s not. Who is this girl, again?”

“Her name’s Yukiko Amagi, and-“

“Yukiko Amagi? Oh yeah, she’s in a lot of the same business classes as me.” Yosuke nodded. “ And I think I tried to ask her out once.”

“You didn’t.” 

“I so did. She said no, but I think she was still pretty into me-“

Yosuke was not able to dodge the second textbook that flew his way. 

* * *

As it turned out, Amagi lived right off of campus- which would be convenient if Chie had come straight from there, but since she decided to go back to her apartment after classes, it made for quite the trek. 

The sun was setting by the time she stepped off the train and looked at her phone. The directions the girl had sent her (written with flawless and proper grammar, a refreshing change of pace from Yosuke’s text style, which was on approximately the same level as an excited teenage girls’) indicated that the building she lived in was a few blocks off the station. Still a bit of a walk, but Chie would manage. 

She surveyed her surroundings- while this stop was nearer to the school, it was still a stop before the University, and she never had a reason to get off the train here before. It was all unfamiliar, and compared to her neighborhood, it was filled with life. Restaurants and storefronts had people flowing in and out. She mightaswell have been in a different city altogether. 

It also proved to be a totally different city to navigate, and it didn’t take more than a single misstep for Chie to end up on a side street she did not recognize, with far less people than there were before. 

She looked at her phone again, but the street names the girl gave her matched up with zero percent of the streets around her. Great. Someone was doing her a huge favor and she was going to be late on day one. Chie cursed herself, and tried to figure out how to navigate back to a main street when a voice rang out.  

“Help! Someone, please help!” 

She looked up from her phone.

“Won’t someone please help me-  _ gurgh. _ ” A deep voice echoed off the walls of the alleys nearby, punctuated by a groan. 

Against her better judgment, Chie followed the noise. It wasn’t more than a street away, and as she rounded the corner, she saw it. 

Two men- one about her age, another who looked older and scraggly- surrounded a hunched up elderly man, and they took turns kicking him in the stomach. 

“Someone, pl-“ The old man was interrupted by another kick, and finished the sentence with a wail of pain. 

“Why do you fear death? Pathetic.” The scraggly man scoffed. He was taller than his partner, shirtless and tattooed and he set off every danger alarm in Chie’s brain. 

She knew she should escape. But her legs didn’t cooperate, and there she stood, frozen. 

_ What are you doing?  _ She thought to herself  _ Get out of here! You have places to be!  _

She wanted to move, she needed to get out of here, she needed- 

_ You can’t leave. Can’t you see it? This man needs you! You’re the only one who can save him. And you need to save him.  _ Another voice echoed in her skull, this one deeper, it’s tone darker.  _ Without you, he’s as good as dead. Without you, he’s nothing.  _

Chie shook her head. She shouldn’t, she-

The younger boy laughed, then kicked the man’s crotch and laughed even more. 

\- was going to be late either way, and wouldn’t it be better to be late and save someone rather than just be late because of her own stupidity? 

Between Chie and the scuffle stood another girl, who was so disengaged that she hadn’t even reacted to Chie’s presence.

Well, Chie thought to herself. She could either act first, or wait for someone to finally notice her. And like hell she was going to give them the advantage.

“Hey, leave him alone!” She willed her legs to move and sprinted at the scene. 

The girl calmly stepped in front of her, and somehow maintained enough balance to snag Chie before she could run by. Chie struggled, but the girl was tougher than she looked, and Chie wasn’t able to get out of her grasp. 

“Well, well.” The shirtless man backed off from his victim and turned to Chie “Looking to play hero, are we?”

The boy next to him scoffed. “Is your life truly that dull? That you jump at the first sign of conflict? I almost feel bad for you.”

Chie growled, trying to shove the girl off her. “Like you know anything about me!” 

The taller man laughed, “I know you come running at what you perceive to be a cry for help. How very admirable. A waste of energy…but admirable.” 

“I’m getting sick of listening to you!” Chie finally broke out of the girl’s hold, throwing her to the side before charging at the man. 

She forgot about the boy next to him, and his fist hit her square on the cheek. 

Chie stumbled back, and it was enough of an opening for the shirtless man to kick her in the stomach, sending her tumbling to the ground. 

“Do you really think-“ the man continued as he leaned down and grabbed her by the collar of her jacket and forced her to look him in the eyes, “-that this is what will fulfill your life’s purpose?”  

The girl that originally blocked her grabbed Chie’s arms behind her back. 

“F-fuck you, you jerk!” Chie spat out. Something cool and steel smacked her straight across the face in response. 

“Such resilience. It’s truly a shame that someone with such energy is using it to delay the inevitable.” Chie heard a click, and felt that cool metal pressing against the base of her chin.  

“Do it, Takaya.” The boy muttered as he stood off to the side, arms crossed.

Chie closed her eyes, and her ears pounded with her pulse, so loud she couldn’t even think. 

She heard a click, followed by a soft, monotone voice from behind her. “They’re here.”

Faint sirens blared in the distance. The pressure of the metal dropped from Chie’s chin, but the girl’s grip on her arms tightened. 

“How unfortunate.” It was the man’s voice again, though his inflection reflected no disappointment.   

When Chie opened her eyes, he was smiling at her. 

“Next time.” He said, and punctuated the sentence by smashing Chie on the forehead with the butt of the revolver. 

The girl let go of her, and the three ran as Chie fell to the ground.

Her vision blurred, and something warm rolled down from her forehead, and she could barely register any of it. The sound of sirens in the distance and of footsteps getting both quieter and louder echoed in her skull, and each noise was accompanied by throbbing pain. 

She felt a pressure against her shoulder, and all she could make out was a woman in blue and the old man from before. They leaned over her, and everything rang louder until there was no noise at all. 

* * *

When Chie awoke, she was in a bed somewhere, surrounded by the scent of cleaning solution and expensive perfume. 

“Oh, you’re awake.” 

She looked to her side, where a nurse in pink was standing a little too close to her. 

“Thank goodness for that- you’ve been unconscious for quite some time.” The nurse leaned in, and investigated something of interest on Chie’s face.

“Um- okay, that’s- Is there something wrong with me?”

The nurse clicked her tongue, “No, no, no. I’m just making sure these wounds haven’t reopened.”

Wounds? Oh, right. She forgot about the part where she got jumped in an alley. 

Chie tried to lift her right arm and scratch at her head, but flinched at both the soreness of her muscles and the sensitive skin on her scalp.“H-how bad are they?”

“Oh, not as bad as they could have been… a few stitches, deep bruising, probable concussion.” The nurse explained. She had a habit of extending the last syllable of her sentences, her voice smooth and filled with intentional seduction. It gave Chie a headache. Or maybe that was the concussion. 

Chie turned and looked out of the window of the hospital room. The sunlight was gone, replaced by glaring streetlights. Their brightness sent a lance of pain shooting through her skull, and she quickly turned away from the window. 

“You should be cleared to leave once we get you set up on medications that are compatible with the treatment you’re already receiving. But do tell me one thing...” The nurse started as she organized supplies next to Chie’s bed. “...What were you doing in an alleyway this evening?”

Chie paused. What  _ was  _ she doing in an alleyway? She tried to recall, and it only came back to her in bits and pieces. 

The alleyway. The strangely philosophical and annoyingly smug thugs. The poor old man getting jumped…

“Oh, right! How is that old man doing?”

The nurse sighed. “That’s not an answer to my question. And there are a lot of elderly men here. You’ll have to be more specific.”

“The guy who was brought here with me?”

The nurse stared at her. “...The concussion must be more severe than we thought. You were the only one brought in from that alley.”

“Oh.” Chie sank further into the hospital bed. 

“That brings me back to my question- what were you doing there?”

Chie strained to remember. Before the fight, there was...the alley, but something before that, too. Something about street names, and directions to...to...

Chie sat up so fast she felt like vomiting. The nurse rushed to her side, and she talked at Chie and her words blended together and her perfume was strong and nauseating and Chie completely forgot about the tutoring. The Amagi girl was never going to tutor her or speak with her again. Chie was going to fail the midterms and the class and she’d get scolded by Morooka and his smelly breath and at the thought of that Chie actually did vomit. 

* * *

The phone rang at least 4 times before someone finally picked it up. There was no greeting. 

“Um…Yuki-Amagi-san?”

“Satonaka-san.”

“Oh, this  _ is _ your number! Thank god, I tried calling before but got no response so I didn’t know if it was-“

“Satonaka-san.” 

Chie gulped, “Oh, right, you’re probably not happy about-“

“I’m not. Satonaka-san, you were supposed to be here two hours ago-“

“I know, I know! Look, I didn’t mean to not be there, and I’m not blowing you off I swear-“

“If you didn’t want to do this, then why did you ask to?”

“I did want to do this! I do want to do this! It’s just, I’m a little-“

Chie took a deep breath, but it didn’t help her composure at all. 

“-look, okay, I want to do this, I just, I-”

She was cut off with a sigh, followed by some background chatter and then it was Yukiko’s voice again. “Goodbye, Satona-” 

Chie panicked. 

“I’m at the hospital?!” She yelled, interrupting Yukiko before she even got to the last syllable. 

There was silence at the other end of the line, but at least it was still active.

“I-I can prove it to you, too! Listen, there’s nurses here!” Chie held her cell phone out to a group of nurses who had run into the room. 

They stared at her. After a few seconds, one of them grumbled (just loud enough to transmit through the phone)  a request for Chie to  _ please _ keep her voice down unless she was in critical danger, and the pack shuffled out of the room. 

Chie brought her phone back to her ear, “See?” 

“Huh.” Was all Yukiko managed. After a few beats of silence, she asked “What happened?”

“I got jumped, basically. Did you know there are a lot of alleys near the school? There are, and I wouldn’t recommend them.”  

There was a tapping on the other end of the line “…Are you alright?” 

Chie shrugged, and then realized the phone didn’t pick it up. “Um, yeah, for the most part. Nothing broken. Just uh, some stitches and bruising and a massive headache.”

“Hm.” More tapping. There was someone in the background, but it was too indistinct to make out what they were saying. Maybe it was a boyfriend. Or a best friend. Or someone else entirely. 

Chie didn’t even realize how long she was thinking about that until Yukiko cleared her throat and asked “What time are visiting hours over?”

“Um, like, 8 probably?” Chie had no idea. Hadn’t even thought of the question, because why would anyone ask it unless they were planning to visit, and who would want to-

“Wait, are you trying to visit me?”

“There’s only so much time before the test.”

“Wha- you can’t be serious, Amagi-san!”

“I am.” Because of course she was. She was a good student, and good students studied and didn’t jump into fights in alleys. 

Yukiko spoke up, and interrupted another pause Chie had unintentionally caused. “But visiting hours are already almost over, then. Do you know when you’ll be released?” 

“No.” Chie said, “Probably won’t have to be here too long, though. They said I should be fine after they figure out medication and all that.”

“Hm.” The tapping started again. “If you’re out by tomorrow morning, we could double up on lessons. If that’s okay with you?” 

“O-of course!” Chie nodded.  

“Alright, then. Please let me know if they keep you longer than that. And Satonaka-san?”

“Y-yes?”

“Take care of yourself, please.”  

The two exchanged farewells, and the instant the call was disconnected, Chie sunk into her hospital bed.

For a moment, her mind raced- she thought about Amagi, about the incidents in the alley, and how her life almost ended there.

It was a lot to digest and as much as she had wanted to figure it out, the moment she closed her eyes, exhaustion overcame her and she passed out.

* * *

 


	6. you're here now

The hospital kept Chie overnight for ‘observation’, so when she finally made it back to her apartment early the next morning, she was met with raised eyebrows.

“Damn, Chie. Meeting a girl and staying the night with her in one go? That’s efficient.”

“Ugh, shut up.” She didn’t even bother throwing anything at Yosuke in the kitchen. Even with all the sleeping, she was still physically and mentally exhausted. Besides, Souji was in there, too, and she didn’t want to subject him to that or interrupt what seemed to be a perfectly good breakfast for him.

“Whoa, didn’t end well? I mean-“ Yosuke looked up from his phone and saw Chie in the doorway. “- _damn,_ what happened? You look like shit.”

This time, she threw a shoe. Yosuke decided it was a better idea to dive off the stool he was sitting on than to get hit by it. Souji continued to eat his breakfast as the shoe flew past his head.

Chie walked off before she could hear Yosuke’s retort, and plopped onto the couch in the living room, face-first. Fuuka was sitting on one of the chairs nearby, and glanced up from her laptop.

“Chie-chan?”

Chie grunted in her general direction.

“How was tutoring?”

She groaned, and rolled into the cushions of the couch.

“Hm. Do you have another session today?”

Chie tried to nod. It didn’t work, but Fuuka seemed to get the point.

“Do you need anything beforehand?”

“Food…” Chie half-yawned, barely audible through the couch.

“Alright. Feel better, Chie-chan.”

Chie tried to thank her, but it came out more as _phtha you_ as she drifted into sleep.

* * *

 

When Chie awoke, the first thing to hit her was how badly her head was still hurting- the sleep didn’t seem to help much, if at all. Her second thought was that the sun was too bright, even though what little of it coming into the room was projected at the floor opposite of her.

Her third thought was that she had no idea what time it was.

She flailed around, and blindly grabbed for her phone. Amagi might have forgiven her for missing one session of tutoring, but she wouldn’t forgive two, especially not immediately after missing one and-

“Whoa, take it easy, there.”

Chie paused at the voice, and took a minute to locate it’s source- and realized that the figure that sat where Fuuka was when she fell asleep was distinctly not Fuuka.  “Oh, it’s just you.”

“It’s only 11- you aren’t late for anything. Probably.” Souji didn’t even look up from a book he was reading, or pretending to read.

Chie sighed, and started to sink back into the couch before shaking herself out of her trance. It wouldn’t do to fall back asleep, and it wasn’t like she was going to feel any better by wasting more of the day.

“I might not be late, but I probably shouldn't-” She yawned. “-probably shouldn’t go back to bed, or I will be.”  

“Not a bad idea. Where’s this girl’s apartment anyway?”

“How’d you-” Chie stopped herself, because this was Souji, and of course Souji would know she had tutoring, even without her telling him. “Just a couple of blocks off campus. Not too far away from the station there.”

Long enough to get lost enroute and get her ass kicked by a bunch of jerks, but Chie didn’t add that part.

“Hm.” Souji said, and turned the page of his book.

A beat of silence passed, and Chie shifted in her seat.

“This girl, your tutor?”

“Yeah?”

“She didn’t have...anything to do with whatever happened to you, right?”

Souji looked at her now, expecting a response, and the seriousness in his eyes was enough to make Chie stiffen. “N-no, it was my own fault. I didn’t even make it to her apartment.”

Souji stared, just a moment longer, before he looked back down at his book. “Sorry. I had to make sure.”

Chie sighed, “No, I totally appreciate the concern! But it had nothing to do with her. I promise.”

Souji’s only response was another _hm_ and a flip of a page.

“Hey, Souji-kun?”

Souji looked up at her again, his eyes softer now.

“...Thanks for asking. And for not being an ass about how I look, unlike Yosuke.”

Souji laughed, “No problem. And don’t worry about it- that rugged look is kind of natural for you, Chie-chan. Very intimidating.”

“On second thought, I take back that thanks. Jerk.”

Chie halfheartedly threw one of the pillows that was lying around at him, smiling as she stood up and made to leave.

“Oh, Chie-chan?”

She turned to him from the doorway.

“Someone from the clinic called about a prescription, so Fuuka-san and Yosuke went and picked it up for you. I think they got a couple of other things, too. It should all be on the kitchen table.”

“Oh, thank you!”

Another page flipped. “No need to thank me. I just helped carry the bags in. But I did do a good job of that, so you’re welcome.”

Chie shook her head, and left Souji to his book.

* * *

 

The pills turned out to be just her hormone treatment ones, and not the pain medication from the hospital. Chie groaned- there was a slim chance of some form of ibuprofen or aspirin existing within the apartment building, but it was about as likely as nothing in their fridge being moldy.

She turned her attention to the table. On it was a sports drink and a packed lunch from Aiyas, with a note that read _Chie-chan, please take care of yourself!! We’re here if you need us!!_ in neat, if a bit shaky, handwriting. Scrawled underneath, with nearly illegible penmanship was _Got ur pills. Said they heard from the hospital but that prescription wouldn't b ready till tmmrw morning. Plz don't fight ur tutor today._

Chie rolled her eyes at the last part, but folded the paper and put it into her pocket before she began devouring the lunch in front of her. 

* * *

 

After she finished eating, she headed upstairs. When she trudged into the bathroom, she couldn’t keep herself from groaning as she met face-to-face with a mirror for the first time that day. She really looked like hell. Or, more accurately, she looked like hell had stepped into the ring with her and she had lost, badly.

She finished looking over her bumps and bruises, and opened the medicine cabinet. Sure enough, there was nothing. An empty bottle, and a cap for another, but no medicine or bandages or anything remotely helpful.

Chie closed the cabinet and rested her head against it, mourning her luck today and dreading what was coming next.

But she only lingered for a moment. There were things to be done, and she wasn’t going to keep running from them.

* * *

 

Chie arrived at the apartment building on-time and without incident- until she actually tried to go in.

“Who are you here for? What’s the name and room number?”

“Um, she didn’t really- tell me a room number? She just told me to call when I got here. And it’s, uh, Amagi-san.”

The security guard squinted at her, and began dialing numbers on his phone.

Chie sighed. At least the security office was nice. The whole building was, really. Well kept, clean, and modern. The furniture didn’t have fungus growing off of it, which was a nice change of pace.

Chie couldn’t get over how _angry_ the guard looked. Then again, the scar on the left side of his forehead and the bleached-blonde hair didn’t help things. He could probably break the numbers on the phone pad he kept dialing, if he wanted to.  And he looked to be about at that point- seemingly not getting any response, he slammed the phone onto the receiver and reached for his pocket.

His cell was a flip phone, an old model that they didn’t even produce anymore. It was probably the oldest object in this room, and Chie, unconsciously, ran her fingers over her own phone in her pocket. If it wasn’t the same model, it was at least similar.

The cell seemed to do the trick- the guard finally managed to get someone on the phone, and talked in a hushed tone he probably thought Chie couldn’t hear.

“Yo, Senpai?...I’m doing well, yes, thank you for asking...Actually, we have someone down here to visit ya...To be completely honest-” the security guard dropped his voice another level, though the room was still silent and his voice was still louder than a whisper“-she looks a little rough around the edges. Wanted to make sure you actually knew her. You know how these things are, Senpai, this town is full of creeps and- yeah, okay, I can do that. Okay, thanks, Yukiko-senpai.”

The guard hung the phone up, and leered at Chie from across the desk. “She said you were approved. I’ll buzz you in. But if I hear even the slightest peep coming from the eighth floor, you’re gone.”

“I'll keep it in mind.” Chie responded, but she held her breath until she finally hit the hallway.

It was a short walk to the elevators, and as she called one, her mind started to wander. The mugging, the security guard, the concussions-if kung-fu movies had taught her anything besides some sick moves, it would be that fate and karma were very real. Everything up to this point had given her some pretty big hints that this was a bad move. And here she was, with the perfect opportunity to get out of this place and away from all the negative energy this girl had brought into her life thus far.

The elevator dinged. This was Chie’s shot, but the second those doors opened, she saw herself failing her midterm, getting kicked out of the University and having nowhere to go and she stepped into the elevator without thinking twice.

* * *

 

Yukiko was waiting for her. It only took one knock and the door to apartment 812 was open.

“Oh, um- Hi, Amagi-san!”

Yukiko, to her credit, only jumped a little upon seeing Chie’s face. “Hello, Satonaka-san. I’m- I’m glad you made it.”

Chie giggled nervously, and kicked her feet at the ground “Me too. Well, you know, it’s a big city so sometimes it just...takes a little bit to find places, I guess.”

“I suppose.”

Chie’s giggles died off, and there was a near silence. Somewhere, a clock ticked, but Chie hadn’t seen one in the hallway. Yukiko stared at her.

“So, um. Are we planning on studying out here, or, um, what’s the plan?”

Chie’s voice seemed to snap Yukiko out of her trance, and she responded “Oh! Right, I’m sorry. Please come in.”

Yukiko moved from the doorway, and Chie took a tentative half-step into the apartment.

“I’m sorry if it’s a little messy, but the table should be clean enough to work on.”

The apartment was spotless. Chie couldn’t find a single thing out of place- no stains on the walls, no spots of excessive mold, or signs of mice. There was probably actually edible food in the fridge, rather than failed cooking attempts, month-old leftovers and grass.

“Don’t worry about it. My apartment is pretty much always dirty.” Chie managed, after shaking herself from her staring.  

“I take it you brought your textbook?”

“Huh? Oh, right.” Chie reached an arm around her back, looking for the backpack she wore to class- and then flailed her arm a bit when there was nothing there. “Oh, I...I guess I didn’t.”

“That’s...that’s okay. I have mine.” Yukiko said as she sat at the small table in the center of the room.

Chie couldn’t stop looking around- a small TV on one wall, the table, and a small couch on the wall opposite the TV. The kitchen area was tucked away in a corner, condensed but with complete utilities. Opposite the kitchen was a stack of bedding.

It was the nicest apartment Chie had seen since moving to the city, she realized as she sat opposite of Yukiko at the table.

“Oh, that’s… if you’re going to be using the same textbook, you’ll need to sit closer to me.”

“Oh! That’s fine!” Chie stood again, and unceremoniously plopped down on the spot next to Yukiko.

Her leg brushed Yukiko’s under the table, and Chie immediately, instinctively twitched away from her.

Yukiko didn’t react; instead, she rifled through some papers until she found the stack of notes she was looking for.

After a bit of arranging, she looked up at Chie. “Do you have a notebook or anything?”

Chie shook her head, and Yukiko placed a brand new one and a pen in front of her and took a deep breath. “Okay, Satonaka-san. Are you ready to begin?”

“Let’s do it.” Chie nodded, or tried to. Her vision had been swirling from all the movement, and the nod set it off again.

Yukiko just smiled at her, and began rattling off facts.

* * *

 

After two hours of talking about no-name poets, Greek authors who had names but ones that Chie couldn’t pronounce let alone memorize, and how both of those things contributed to the modern day media culture of Japan, Chie felt like her brain was about to burst. For all she knew, it could be- her head still throbbed, and maybe the nurses overlooked something the night before. Something like a giant gash in her skull that her brains were leaking through.

Yukiko didn’t seem to notice, and when Chie saw the title _Mythical Sonnets and Where to Find Them (England),_ she knew she had to speak up.

“Hey, um, would it be alright if we took a break? Even just a short one?”

Yukiko looked up at her. “Hm? How long has it been?”

“Well, we started at three…” Chie looked down at her phone, “and it’s just passed five so-”

“Oh!” Yukiko shut the textbook, “I’m sorry- we can definitely take a break.”

“Cool.”

There was a faint buzzing- probably from the fridge, and it was the first time that Chie had noticed any noise since coming into the apartment. Cars honked outside, and Chie registered that it was rush hour.

“So, um...what year are you?” The question hung in the stale air, and Chie half-expected Yukiko not to respond.

“I’m in my third year.”

“Really? Me too! Guess we have something in common.”

“Mmhm.”

Silence flooded over them again, and Chie figured she had a couple options- try to ask more about her, stare at the wall across from her, or get up and walk out. She chose the path of least resistance- at least the wall was clean.

Suddenly, Yukiko stood. “I’ll-I’ll go make us some tea.”

She didn’t really go anywhere- just walked across the room, poured some water, flicked a few switches, and came and sat back down.

“I’m sorry, I’m not being a very good hostess, am I?”

“Hm?” Chie sat up- she had been concentrating pretty hard on one speck on the wall- and waved off Yukiko’s concern. “No worries, Amagi-san. I’ve been a pretty rude guest, all things considered.”

Yukiko giggled at that, and something about it made Chie’s chest feel light and the room more airy.

“You know, I wasn’t sure I believed you when you called me last night.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Well, I mean,” Yukiko started to explain, then stopped herself. “We hadn’t really talked much before then, so-”

“Oh, I totally get it! It must have sounded like a total lie, right? I mean, I’m sure someone’s told that story to get out of something before. But I think I, uh, can prove that it happened with, um,” Chie made a gesture at specific parts of her face that were scarred and bruised, and ended up just pointing to her whole face, “all of this.”

Yukiko hummed, “Are you- how do you feel now?”

“I’m alright. You know- or, I guess maybe you don’t- but I’m a pretty tough cookie.” Chie couldn’t help her grin, “It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

Suddenly, Yukiko leaned in close to her, and Chie snapped out of her bravado with a jump “A- Amagi-san?”

“You’re bleeding.”

“A- Am I?” Yukiko was getting closer, and squinting at Chie’s forehead and Chie knew she should back away from the girl but was too stunned to move.

“Have you changed your bandages since you left the hospital?”

“N-no. We don’t have any at our apartment, and I guess I just- wasn’t thinking about it?”

Yukiko stilled. The girl was focused, intensity clear in her eyes and Chie couldn’t help holding her breath as Yukiko brushed the edge of the bandage on Chie’s forehead.

“You need to change them, or else you’ll get an infection.” Yukiko withdrew her hand, but her eyes were still on Chie, “Are you okay with changing them here?”

“Um, that’s- um,”  Chie stuttered. “I mean, yeah, I guess that’s okay?”

“I have some supplies in my bathroom.” Yukiko stood. “Come with me.”

Dizzy from both the sudden movement and the surprise of what was happening, Chie stood and followed Yukiko into the door she had opened.

Yukiko’s bathroom was small, but it was private, which was more than Chie was used to. Yukiko stepped toward the sink and opened the cabinet above.

“Satonaka-san, can you sit on the edge of the bathtub, please?”

Chie did as she was told, and watched Yukiko rifle through the bottles and supplies on the shelves. Once she had plucked a few things from them, she took her time washing her hands, and turned around to face Chie.

Then, Yukiko kneeled on the floor in front of her, and neatly laid out the supplies she had grabbed.

“Are you- have you done this before?”

“I have.” Yukiko fiddled with a bottle. “It might hurt a bit, though. Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

Chie nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure I’ll be fine. I appreciate you doing this for me.”

“Of course.” Yukiko set the bottle down, and faced Chie. “Okay, Satonaka-san, please sit still.”

Chie took a deep breath to steady herself, and Yukiko leaned in.

There were a few different bandages, and Yukiko started with a smaller one on Chie’s cheek. Chie closed her eyes, and felt Yukiko’s fingers brush against her. There was a gentle pull, and then in one swift motion a sharp peeling burn.

She hissed instinctively, and opened her eyes just in time to see Yukiko back away from her with a start.

“S-sorry!”

“Don’t- don’t worry about it! Better to just rip it off right?”

“R-right.”

Chie took another deep breath, closed her eyes once more and again, Yukiko was close.

The next contact wasn’t Yukiko’s skin, but instead, something soft, warm, and damp. The course texture told Chie it was a towel, and it was soothing, almost. When the pressure left, it was replaced by a rush of cool air.

The next touch was a smoother texture, but it stung. Chie flinched.

“If you could sit still, please.”

“Right, sorry.”

Yukiko’s hands moved quicker after that, and soon the stinging was gone.

Chie heard a ripping noise, and the crinkle of plastic. The pressure on her cheek returned, the chill of Yukiko’s skin against her own, and the sticky-soft-sticky pattern of the bandage as it was pressed against the cut.

Yukiko moved away, and Chie rid herself of any remaining nerves with a shake of her head.

“One down.” Chie opened her eyes at the uncertainty in Yukiko’s voice.

“Wasn’t too bad.” She smiled at Yukiko. “Just three to go.”

Yukiko nodded, determined, and moved back in.

* * *

 

The next two bandages, on Chie’s jaw and her nose, were replaced rather easily. They followed the same pattern- the bandage ripped off, the cuts cleaned, protective gel put on top, and the bandage replaced.  By the end of them, Chie didn’t even flinch.

The only one left was the most important one, covering her stitches on her forehead.

“I shouldn’t…” Yukiko started, looking down at the very basic supplies she’d been using, “... I don’t think you’re supposed to change bandages for stitches.”

Chie nodded, “Yeah, I sort-of remember hearing the nurse say something like that.”

“When do you get them removed?”

“Day after tomorrow, I think.” Chie didn’t remember much of what the doctors told her, but she did remember that. If only because it would get rid of the giant mark on her forehead.

Yukiko made a noise of understanding, and grabbed one of the towels she hadn’t used yet. “Well, it might be a good idea to clean around it. If that’s alright with you?”

“S-sure.”

“Okay, I’ll just… would you mind leaning forward, a little?”

Chie scooted closer to the edge of the tub, and was pretty near being off of it entirely before Yukiko stopped her.

“I’ll just use water, so this shouldn’t hurt at all.”

“Sounds good.”

Yukiko got up and ran water on the towel, and then returned to Chie and kneeled in front of her. She was a couple of inches taller than Chie- convenient, if only because it lined her up perfectly with Chie’s forehead.

Chie closed her eyes again, and Yukiko leaned in once she did. The girl was closer now, closer than she had been before. Chie felt her hand, gently pressing near the bandage. Her skin was soft, and so was her touch- it was like she wasn’t even there at all.

“You can, you know...touch me. I’m not breakable.”

“Right. Sorry.”

Chie felt Yukiko’s hand now. Next to the bandage, not pressing into it, but Chie’s forehead wasn’t that big, and her bangs got in the way. Yukiko adjusted her fingers so that they interwove perfectly with Chie’s hair, not pulling or snagging. Just...there.

The warm towel joined Yukiko’s hand, and she ran it along the bandage, taking care to make sure it didn't catch on the edges.  

Chie could have fallen asleep- the care with that Yukiko took with her, the softness of her skin on Chie’s own, and the feeling of the girl close to her were intoxicating.

Yukiko’s hand stilled. Chie heard the softness of their breath, felt the girl near her, and she-

Yukiko jerked back, and Chie felt the cold rush in again as she opened her eyes.

“The tea is done. We should get back to studying.”

Yukiko was out of the room within moments. Chie let out the breath she didn’t realize she was holding, and followed her.

* * *

 

They had settled back around the table with their tea, when silence threatened to rush over them again.

Chie was determined to not let that happen.

“Hey, Amagi-san?”

Yukiko looked up from her tea, and Chie took it as a sign to continue.

“Back in the bathroom, you said you’d done that before- have you?”

“You didn’t believe me?”

“No, it’s not that, I just...can’t imagine someone like you dealing with gorey stuff at all, I guess.”

Yukiko paused, “A friend of mine used to get into fights when we were little, and didn’t know how to take care of himself very well...and I’ve managed to cut myself once or twice working in the kitchens. It was just something I taught myself how to deal with.”

“Kitchens?”

“My family owns an Inn in my hometown.”

“Oh, really? I had no idea.”

Chie considered asking her why she even bothered to go to college if she already had her future set for her, but decided not to. She’d already misspoken more than once, and would dread having to continue tutoring if things became awkward between them again.

“I don’t blame you for not knowing. It does seem like most people do, though.”

“Huh,” Chie shrugged, “guess I’m just not like most people.”

“No, you’re...unique.”

It was a cover for a more harsh comment, Chie knew. She chose to maintain conversation rather than defend her honor. “So, are you a business student then, Amagi-san?”

Yukiko nodded. “Yes, though I’ve been studying other topics, as well. What about you?”

Chie rubbed at her nose, forgetting about the new bandage on it. She shivered at it’s sensitivity. “Technically I’m undecided.”

“Technically?”

“Well, I mean, I _am_ undecided. Technically and in real life, too- wait, that doesn’t make any sense.”

Chie expected another awkward silence, but instead, all she heard was a small bubble of a giggle. And then another, and another.

Soon, they weren’t small at all, and the sound of Yukiko’s laughter rid the room of it’s emptiness.  

Chie was- well, it was unexpected, to say the least. Here was Yukiko Amagi, heiress to an Inn somewhere, laughing her head off at something that wasn’t even a joke.

“I’m- snrk- sorry, Satonaka-san, I don’t usually-haha- do this.”

Chie rubbed the back of her head. “Um- no worries. But hey, listen-”

Yukiko’s giggling had all but subsided, but she hadn’t bothered to conceal the smile that followed. “Yes?”

“You can just call me Chie, okay? Satonaka-san is a little…” Formal. Rigid. It was a little too much of everything that had made things uncomfortable and too little of what was apparently going to make things better.

The other girl nodded. “If you say so, Saton- Chie-san. We should probably finish this chapter’s lesson tonight, though.”

“Oh, right. Almost forgot we had to keep on a schedule. Well, let’s get it done then!”

The study session carried on, as though nothing had even happened in the intermission, but the air felt...lighter, somehow. Chie couldn’t shake the feeling of comfort, of defenses lowered and the beginnings of some sort of familiarity.  

* * *

 

“Same time tomorrow?”

Yukiko stood in the doorway, and shook her head. “No, I have an afternoon class… a little later, maybe? Around dinner?”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Alright, then. I’ll see you tomorrow, Chie-san.”

Chie gave her a thumbs up before heading towards the elevators. Once there, she checked her phone- and it dawned on her that she hadn’t bothered to even look at it since she got there in the afternoon.

Normally, it wouldn’t have been a problem, but the avalanche of texts she was greeted with said that tonight was different.

The first was from Yosuke.

_Ur welcome for picking up ur stuff. Don’t hurt urself banging ur tutor today._

Chie rolled her eyes, and kept scrolling.

The second text was from Souji.

_Good luck today. Check in every once in awhile, okay? We’re all a bit worried about you._

The third, from Fuuka, followed the same pattern.

_I know you’re strong and can protect yourself. But can you let us know you’re alright, Chie-chan? If you’re not too busy._

Chie scrolled through the rest of the texts as the elevator dinged. It was a collection of dirty jokes Yosuke had thought of during the day, with interludes of Teddie’s all capital text messages of support when he managed to steal Yosuke’s phone, and another text from Souji asking for an update.

As Chie typed the message _I’m ok, sorry I didn’t reply!,_ she was so focused on the screen in front of her that she didn’t even realize she was walking through the lobby until she bumped into someone.

She looked up to apologize, but the girl she collided with was already a step into the elevators, and all Chie could make out of her was the rich, auburn shade of her hair.

She shrugged, hit _send_ , and headed home.

 


End file.
